Not Eternally, However For Now by Chuck Palahniuk
I’ve been a fan of Chuck Palahniuk since…. effectively… most likely over twenty years now; since I used to be in highschool actually. I bear in mind studying Combat Membership, Rant, Choke, and Invisible Monsters in highschool or quickly after highschool / school. However over time, the wording “fan” has most likely modified a bit when concerning my curiosity in Palahniuk. Firstly, I believe most of his newer novels have been very low high quality, secondly, even re-reading a number of the older works I’ve discovered myself having fun with them much less.
Chuck Palahniuk
Chuck Palahniuk could be greatest recognized for Combat Membership; his first revealed (however not first written) novel – revealed in 1996. Hes credited with over 20 novels, movies, quick story compilations, quick fictions, essays, and non-fiction works.
The next fast abstract of Chuck Palahniuk comes from Wikipedia:
Charles Michael “Chuck” Palahniuk (/ˈpɔːlənɪokay/;[1][2] born February 21, 1962) is an American novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction.[3][4] He has revealed 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two grownup coloring books, in addition to a number of quick tales. His first revealed novel was Combat Membership, which was tailored right into a movie of the identical title.
Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington, the son of Carol Adele (née Tallent) and Fred Palahniuk.[5][6] He has French and Ukrainian ancestry.[7] His paternal grandfather migrated from Ukraine to Canada after which to New York in 1907.[8]
Palahniuk grew up residing in a cellular residence in Burbank, Washington. His dad and mom separated when he was 14 years outdated, and so they subsequently divorced, typically leaving him and his three siblings to dwell with their maternal grandparents at their cattle ranch in jap Washington.[9] Palahniuk acknowledged in a 2007 interview that he’s a distant nephew of actor Jack Palance, and that his household had talked of distant relations with Palance.[10]
Palahniuk attended the College of Oregon, graduating with a level in journalism in 1986. He interned on the native public radio station, KLCC, as a part of his coursework.[11]
Chuck Palahniuk is a reputation lengthy related to provocative, boundary-pushing literature. Identified for his signature shock worth and darkish commentary on the absurdities of society, Palahniuk has captivated readers with books like Combat Membership, Invisible Monsters, and Survivor. However, together with his newest novel, Not Eternally, However For Now, followers are feeling conflicted. Does it dwell as much as Palahniuk’s legacy, or is it merely one other installment of chaos for chaos’s sake? Let’s dive in.
For a lot of, it’s been some time since a Palahniuk e book actually hit the mark. Some followers nonetheless discover moments of brilliance in his work, however others really feel his latest novels lack the depth that after balanced out the shock issue. In Not Eternally, However For Now, that shock issue is turned as much as eleven, however the substance behind it feels tenuous at greatest. Palahniuk’s strategy right here raises the query: how a lot is an excessive amount of?
The story facilities on Otto and Cecil, two brothers raised in a twisted lineage of assassins. Their privileged, grotesquely eccentric life-style is stuffed with hedonism and depravity, from homicide to an assortment of disturbing obsessions. The narrative strikes in erratic fragments, mixing scenes of violence and debauchery with sporadic jumps to well-known celeb deaths and chilling household traditions. The general tone feels compelled, as if Palahniuk is set to outdo his previous works, even on the expense of storytelling.
One recurring grievance from readers is the novel’s mind-numbing repetitiveness. The phrases “having a go” and “having it off” are repeated endlessly—showing over 180 occasions in a 256-page e book. By the tip, it’s laborious to not really feel exhausted by the dearth of linguistic selection and to surprise if Palahniuk is just working out of concepts. Gone are the insightful, twisted trivia and intelligent asides that after peppered his novels. Right here, we’re left with repetitive dialogue that dilutes the impression of the narrative and any probability of reference to the characters.
The characters themselves—sometimes a saving grace in Palahniuk’s worlds—are flat. Otto and Cecil are self-indulgent, shallow, and just about unchanging all through the story. Their psychopathy lacks the nuanced fringe of Palahniuk’s earlier protagonists, and as an alternative, the brothers come throughout as hole caricatures. Their antics appear designed solely to elicit shock moderately than provide any actual commentary. It’s laborious to sympathize and even discover intrigue in characters so missing in complexity. Palahniuk’s knack for dissecting and humanizing darkish, twisted psyches appears absent, leaving us with a forged that feels extra grotesque than compelling.
Including to the frustration is the dearth of a coherent plot. What storyline exists feels spinoff, a watered-down model of Combat Membership with out the depth. The e book reads like a sequence of darkly comedian skits with Otto and Cecil on the middle, however there’s no overarching battle or growth. This construction—episodic and staccato—prevents the reader from turning into totally immersed or invested, and by the point Palahniuk hints on the novel’s purported theme of dependancy within the afterword, it appears like an afterthought, tacked on to lend some semblance of that means.
For long-time followers, this e book is a troublesome capsule to swallow. Many bear in mind Palahniuk’s glory days, when his “edgy” type got here with wit and a message, irrespective of how darkly delivered. However Not Eternally, However For Now feels prefer it’s all edge and no middle. These surprising parts that after served as autos for exploring society’s flaws now really feel like shock for shock’s sake. Readers who’ve adopted his work for years—some because the early 2000s—are feeling extra disenchanted than disturbed, lamenting the lack of the author who as soon as introduced a lot uncooked, significant provocation to the web page.
Finally, Not Eternally, However For Now might attraction to those that can abdomen its graphic content material and relentless absurdity. It’s not a e book for the faint-hearted or anybody anticipating to discover a redeeming arc inside its twisted storyline. In the event you’re a die-hard Palahniuk fan, you might need to strategy this one with warning; when you’re new to his work, there are higher beginning factors.
As one reviewer aptly put it, studying this e book feels “like a fever dream of nonsense making an attempt to be one thing.” Palahniuk is undoubtedly proficient, however in Not Eternally, However For Now, that expertise appears buried beneath layers of gratuitous grotesquerie, leaving readers questioning if he’s misplaced contact with the insightful, acerbic commentary that after made him a literary icon.
For individuals who stay undeterred, this e book is out there at your native library—and maybe that’s the most effective place for it. No want so as to add this one to the shelf. It’s unlikely you’ll need to revisit it.
E-book Abstract and Again of Cowl Blurb
That is the again of canopy blurb (in keeping with GoodReads):
From the bestselling writer of Combat Membership comes a hilarious horror satire a couple of household {of professional} killers answerable for essentially the most atrocious occasions in historical past and the younger brothers which might be destined to take over.Meet Otto and Cecil. Two brothers rising up privileged within the Welsh countryside. They take pleasure in watching nature reveals, taking part in with their pet pony, impersonating their Grandfather…and killing the assistance. Homicide is the household enterprise in any case. Downton Abbey, this isn’t. Nevertheless, it’s not really easy to proceed the household legacy with the fixed stream of threats and distractions seemingly leaping from the hedgerow. First there may be the matter of the veritable cavalcade of escaped convicts that preserve displaying up at their door. To not point out the debaucherous new tutor who has a penchant for talking in Greek and dismembering intercourse dolls. Then there’s Mummy’s burgeoning opioid dependancy. And who is aware of the place Daddy is. He simply vanished someday after he and Mummy took a stroll within the so known as “Ghost Forest.” With Grandfather placing strain on Otto to step up, it turns into clear that it will all finish in solely two a nuclear apocalypse or simply one other day among the many creeping thistle and tree peonies. And in a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk, both are equally attainable.
At the moment it has 717 evaluations, and 4,059 rankings on GoodReads with a mean international ranking of three.10 (as of 11.8.24). It was first revealed on September fifth, 2023.
(The next is my full e book assessment. It’s fairly lengthy and prolonged.)
It’s been a very long time since I actually loved a Chuck Palahniuk e book—my final favourite being Pygmy in 2009. Maybe it’s as a result of he’s modified, or possibly I’ve. Palahniuk, who made his mark with sharp, transgressive fiction, appears to have misplaced his edge in a means that’s much less about maturity and extra about shock techniques rising stale. His newest e book, Not Eternally, However For Now, was a chore, one which feels extra like a caricature of his earlier work than an precise evolution of it.
A Lackluster Try at Shock Worth
If Palahniuk is making an attempt to impress, he’s doing it in essentially the most uninspired means. Not Eternally, However For Now options two wicked brothers, Otto and Cecil, who come from a household of hitmen and cross their time committing heinous acts with nihilistic indifference. Moderately than being cleverly subversive or thought-provoking, the e book depends closely on crass depictions of taboo subjects—incest, necrophilia, and informal violence—served up with out a lot nuance or narrative objective.
The e book is awash in repetitive language. Each point out of “having a go” or “having it off”—phrases meant to face in for sexual acts—is jarringly overused, coming throughout extra like a gimmick than something artistically significant. Actually, it occurs so typically that it begins to really feel like padding in an already skinny story. The sheer redundancy detracts from the impression of the story and attracts consideration away from any try at deeper commentary. There’s an unsettling sense that Palahniuk is merely making an attempt to be offensive for offense’s sake, with out bothering to floor it in something substantial.
Characters that Fall Flat
Characters are central to any story, however the two brothers in Not Eternally, However For Now come throughout as shallow and undeveloped. They appear extra like grotesque caricatures than folks, with no redeeming qualities or progress all through the novel. This is able to be much less of a problem if there have been not less than one thing intriguing about them or if the plot gave them a objective past nihilistic thrill-seeking. Sadly, that isn’t the case right here. Palahniuk has managed to make Otto and Cecil uninteresting, regardless of their appalling conduct.
For longtime Palahniuk followers, this lack of compelling characters is very disappointing. His early works, like Combat Membership, succeeded not solely due to their shock worth however as a result of the characters had been multifaceted and served as autos for bigger, typically biting social commentary. In Not Eternally, However For Now, that stability is misplaced. What stays are over-the-top personalities with none depth or context, making it troublesome to care about something they do.
A Plot that By no means Fairly Takes Off
Some of the irritating facets of this e book is its lack of a cohesive plot. Whereas Not Eternally, However For Now flirts with themes of dependancy and social alienation, it doesn’t discover them in any significant means. The brothers have interaction in disturbing acts, however these actions don’t lead wherever. There’s no actual battle, no decision—only a sequence of sordid scenes that feels much less like a narrative and extra like a loosely strung-together assortment of vignettes.
The absence of a structured narrative is compounded by abrupt time shifts between previous and current, which frequently make the plot laborious to observe. Readers are thrown into seemingly random moments with out a lot rationalization, leading to confusion moderately than intrigue. Palahniuk’s selection to emphasise type over substance right here does a disservice to his story, making the studying expertise really feel uneven and disjointed.
Failed Social Commentary
Palahniuk is thought for his darkish humor and his typically scathing critique of society. Nevertheless, in Not Eternally, However For Now, the social commentary feels compelled and hole. The e book makes an attempt to satirize poisonous masculinity and societal taboos, however the execution is missing. As an alternative of inspecting or difficult these themes, the novel merely throws them on the reader with out offering any actual perception. The gratuitous violence and sexual references come throughout extra as shock-jock materials than as an effort to convey something substantive.
There’s a second close to the tip the place Palahniuk hints that the e book is basically about dependancy—a last-minute try to inject that means. This revelation appears like an afterthought moderately than an natural a part of the story, and it does little to redeem the narrative. In his early works, Palahniuk was capable of mix surprising content material with insightful commentary on the darker sides of human nature. Right here, although, he falls quick, relying too closely on lurid particulars with out the layered critique that after made his work compelling.
A Disappointing Shift in Tone and High quality
As a longtime fan of Palahniuk’s work, I discovered this novel to be particularly disappointing. At one time, he was so influential to me that I jokingly referred to him as “Uncle Chuck.” I’ve reread Invisible Monsters quite a few occasions, discovering new layers and nuances with every learn. However Not Eternally, However For Now lacks the appeal and depth that made these earlier works so memorable.
Palahniuk’s writing right here feels stale and formulaic, as if he’s struggling to seek out new methods to impress. Moderately than surprising readers with progressive concepts or distinctive views, he’s resorting to a guidelines of obscene acts, none of which carry a lot emotional or mental weight. The e book’s tone is weary, nearly determined—like Palahniuk is making an attempt to show he can nonetheless be edgy, however with none of the conviction or objective that marked his earlier work.
Remaining Ideas
Not Eternally, However For Now is, in the end, a disappointing entry in Palahniuk’s bibliography. Whereas it incorporates a number of the hallmarks of his type—darkish humor, transgressive themes, and a bleak worldview—it fails to convey these parts collectively in a satisfying means. The characters are unlikable and one-dimensional, the plot is fragmented, and the social commentary feels shallow.
For individuals who are new to Palahniuk’s work, I wouldn’t suggest beginning right here. His earlier books, like Combat Membership or Invisible Monsters, showcase his capability to mix shock worth with real perception into the human situation. Longtime followers may nonetheless be curious, however they need to strategy this one with tempered expectations. Not Eternally, However For Now is, sadly, a reminder that even essentially the most daring authors can fall into the entice of making an attempt too laborious to be provocative, in the end sacrificing substance for type.
This one-star expertise appears like a requiem for what Palahniuk’s writing as soon as was—a visceral, uncompromising voice that’s since devolved into empty, tiresome provocation. For now, I’ll stick with revisiting his older work, holding on to the reminiscence of the writer he was.
My rankings:
GoodReads Ranking: * out of *****
International Common Ranking: 3.10 (as of 11.8.24)
LibraryThing Ranking: 1.5 out of 5
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